Improvement in spark-arresters



UNITED STATES PA ENT OFFICE;

J. WELLINGTON NE SMITH, OF GOLDEN, COLORADO.

, IMPROVEMENT IN S PARK-ARREST ERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 169,83 I dated November 9, 1875 application filed I October 6, 1875.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, J. WELLINGTON NEs- MITH, of Golden, Jefferson county, and State of Colorado, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Smoke-Stacks for Locomotive-Engines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, which forms part within the upper portionof the stack-head, in

combination with a smoke-flue, arranged to enter up within the mouth of the deflector, whereby reverse currents are produced within the stack-head during the escape and stop page of the exhaust-steam from the engine, and an eddying action of the currents in said head is obtained, giving increased efficiency to the stack.

The drawing represents a sectional elevation of a locomotive-engine smoke-stack having my invention applied.

A is a hollow cone or inverted oonical'pot, the upper part a of which maygbe of cast-iron, and its lower and larger portion or sides I), which are free from excessive wear,'be made of sheet-iron, and riveted to the upper part a.- B is the smoke-flue, up through which the products of combustion from the furnace and exhaust-steam of the engine pass. Said flue has no flaring top, but may be straight throughout its length, and is extended to enter partly up within the hollow cone A, the interior of the top of which latter I prefer to make of a concave annular form, forthe purpose of more effectually distributing and deflecting the incandescent particles or" cinders. The lower end or mouth of the hollow cone A is considerably larger than the entering top of the smoke-flue, in order that said cone may present a full and sufficient opening for the arrested hot or burning particles to be delarge diameter at its bilge for an engine hav- 7 ing a given diameter of cylinders; and to utilize all the room for a proper action of the stack the cone A, which may be secured by springs, or in any other suitable manner, is

set as high as possible above the entering end of the flue B, and so that its lower open and Widest end or mouth comes within or slightly below the contracted upper portion 0 of the stack-head, leaving a contracted opening, 8, between the stack-head and mouth of the cone.

The operation is as follows: The products of combustion are carried forcibly up by the exhaust-steam from the engine, through the flue B, and strike the cone A. This arrests the whole current, and, by means of the cone or conical deflector A, causes it not only to be deflected downward, but outward, following the direction given by the sides b of said cone, and impinging against the upper part of the lower conical portion at of the stack-head, all

around the latter, and from thence following the portion at of the stack-head downward. Now, the only point of egress from the inside of the stack-head O to the atmosphere is by the contracted opening 8 between the mouth of the deflecting-cone A and the upper part of the stack head; but a current, to pass up through this space 8, must also pass from the inside of the stack-head through the obliquely-downward and outer current from the flue B, which gets its direction from the sides I) of the cone A, and the exhaust downward and outward from said sides 2) cuts off the upward current from the stack-head, and stops it for a time-that is, during each escape of exhauststeam from the cylinder. In this manner the currents have an alternating and eddying actionthat is to say, a downward current is produced at the instant of each exhaust from the engine through the flue B and coneAinto the stack-head, and then an upward currentthat is, between the periods of exhaust from the engineout through the opening s. It consequently'will be seen that the deflecting of the current of the products of combustion and steam downward and outward toward the portion 01 of the stack-head is absolutely essential to secure the action as described.

By the arrangement of the parts and enlarged size of the stack-head as described, there is provided all possible chance and the greatest amount of room for the currents to become more gentle and easier broken up and thrown into eddies by the action of the currents crossing each other, thereby affording a perfect opportunity for the sparks or hot solid particles and cinders to settle down within the bottom of the stack-head, from whence they may be withdrawn from time to time, as required, by one or more openings, f, which should be closed by lids or doors.

I claim The hollow cone A, arranged to project above the lower edge of the upper reduced portion 0 of the stack-head but with its mouth arranged to project within or below said upper reduced portion 0, leaving a contracted opening, 8, between it and said head, and with its sides I) inclining in a reverse direction to the sides or portion 01 of the head, in combination with the flue B, arranged to enter up and open within the mouth of the cone A, substantially as shown and described.

J. WELLINGTON NESMITH. Witnesses:

E. W. RoLLINs, W. G. ARMOR. 

